Using Photovoice to Conduct an Educator Health Needs Assessment: An Accessible Tool to Inform Participatory Organizational Interventions

Background Educators are an at-risk occupational group with high demands and limited resources that drive strain, resulting in mental well-being challenges and high turnover. The Total Teacher Health project develops participatory workplace initiatives to support well-being, emphasizing organizational responsibility for worker health. This study evaluated Photovoice as a feasible and rapid workforce needs assessment method to inform health initiatives. We compared findings with those from a traditional survey. Methods In 2023, we recruited educators and staff from four public elementary schools in the northeastern U.S. Over two weeks, participants responded to weekly prompts using smartphone photographs and captions. Prompts asked participants (1) how work affected well-being and happiness and (2) how work could be changed to better support well-being. Participants submitted five photos with captions each week. Qualitative data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. A cross-sectional survey was administered in the same schools using standardized measures of psychosocial risk factors and well-being outcomes; responses were dichotomized to identify high-concern priorities. Results Participants (N = 20) were female and White, with a mean age of 39 years. Eighteen participants submitted 100 photos in Week 1 and 85 in Week 2; inter-coder agreement was substantial. Week 1 themes reflected job demands and resources, the need for personal self-care, and well-being impacts. Week 2 emphasized organizational change solutions (improving psychosocial climate and recognition, addressing time pressures, reducing workloads, strengthening student support, providing work breaks) over individual solutions. Survey respondents (N = 167) reported similar concerns with job demands such as work overload, lacking resources (time, breaks, autonomy, recognition), and psychological well-being impacts. This suggested convergence between Photovoice and survey methods. Conclusions Photovoice was feasible and time-efficient as a workforce health needs assessment, producing actionable priorities more rapidly than conventional approaches. Findings reinforce that psychological well-being is a concern primarily shaped by imbalances between high demands and limited resources. Most solutions targeted organizational change, though individual self-care practices (leisure coping, positive mindset) were helpful and may have been viewed as necessary to offset unhealthy, intractable system-level conditions. Overall, results support Photovoice as a practical assessment method to inform organizational interventions aimed at improving educator well-being and retention.